Not what I'd usually go in for
When I look to buy a game I tend to plump for ones with a story I think will interest me. I often steer clear of the Call of Duties and Gears of War because I just don't get that sort of broish mentality. This notwithstanding, God of War III is absolutely mother-f'ing awesome. Now this is my first God of War game so I wasn't really sure what to expect and it turns out there isn't really much to it. You're Kratos, you killed you family, murdered Ares, ascended to Godhood and continued your spree. You're an angry SOB with a sword and an imagination, 'nuff said.
The gravely macho voice, I could do without. The random scantily clad women, I could do without. The second-person eye gouging, while admittedly pretty damn cool, I could still probably do without. The thing is that if I were to look at all of the component parts I would probably think that it wasn't worth my time. However when it's all packaged together in a nice bundle where everything looks pretty consistently amazing, and works, it becomes decidedly intriguing.
When you then take all of this hacking, slashing and gore and wrap it in a coat of classical mythology, one of my other big nerdoms, things get really interesting. I've gouged out Poseidon's eyes, stolen Hades' soul and done equally unsavoury things to several other Olympian Deity's. This game, for me, (and I understand this could come of rather serial killeresque) has turned into some kind of macabre collectathon/check list. I'm only playing the traversal/puzzle sections, which are admittedly not terrible, to get to the next encounter and see which God I'm going to be facing down next, and what new toy I'll get for my trouble.
I can't really speak to the criticisms others have levelled against this game, having not played the first two. The combat doesn't feel tired, the game mechanics don't feel outdated and Kratos' disposition, while grating, isn't too bad. But then again I'm playing this in a vacuum, having played mostly Open World games for the past few years.In spite, or maybe because of this, I would heartily recommend this game, especially if you are familiar with the mythology and perhaps unfamiliar with this genre.
